Lupi 08 - Death Magic

agreement with the Shadow Unit bans us from revealing specific information they’ve gathered unless that information is obtainable elsewhere. They don’t want anyone who hasn’t pinkie-sworn to not reveal their secrets to find any link back to them.”
    Abel grinned. “He means ‘pinkie-sworn’ literally. That’s what they do, all very solemn. I imagine Harry will show up at some point to take your vow.”
    “Harry. Like my cat?”
    “Exactly like your cat.” Rule’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “He’s the leader of the troop who are spying for us. He took that use-name to deal with us in honor of Dirty Harry, whom they consider a great warrior. When that demon showed up here last year—”
    “They know about that?”
    “Apparently they find you and me too interesting to ignore in spite of the clear drawbacks to being in our company. They’ve been keeping an eye on us whenever we come to D.C. When the demon approached last year, Dirty Harry yowled—giving warning—then took off.”
    “That’s their idea of a great warrior?”
    “He warned the others and made an excellent escape. Brownies are escape artists. They don’t consider courage a virtue. A grim necessity, perhaps. When I first met Harry, he compared courage to taking a laxative. If you must then you must, but you don’t want people patting you on the back for it, and you’d be crazy to swallow a whole bottle of cod liver oil if a little sip will do the job.”
    She had to grin. “So Dirty Harry took the necessary sip, then split, which makes him a hero.”
    “That’s about right, from what I can tell. You’ll have to get Harry—the brownie Harry, not the cat—to tell you the story sometime.”
    Lily had never visited a brownie reservation. There weren’t any on the West Coast. “Are they as cute as they look in their pictures?”
    Karonski snorted. “They’re freaking adorable.”
    She nodded. She was kind of looking forward to meeting the brownie leader. “Okay. I need to lay out what I need from you two. Cullen, stop playing with your shiny lines and pay attention.”
    “What?” He scowled. “I need to—”
    “At the moment,” Rule said, “you need to do what Lily says.”
    Cullen grimaced, but waved at his air-drawings. They vanished. “I’m listening.”
    “You said the dagger might be elven made.”
    “Not the dagger. The spell on it. And I don’t know for sure because I need to see the grimoire to confirm, but the spell is a mix of Vodun—that’s the part I’ve been working on in spite of all these interruptions—and what looks almost like Celtic runes. Almost, but not quite. The Vodun segment’s the trigger, which makes sense. Vodun specializes in charms and curses that can be used by nulls. Though there’s a weird bit to it—but I’ll tell you about that in a minute. The thing is, the Celtic-looking runes are not Celtic. I think they’re elven, because Celtic runes were derived in part from elven. But I need the damn grimoire—”
    “To confirm your guess. Right. I’ve got the number for Fagin’s safety-deposit box. His thumb drive’s there, with a copy of his translation. He’s supposed to contact his attorney about getting the thumb drive. Here’s the safe deposit number and his lawyer’s contact info.” She handed him a sheet of paper with the information. “Talk to her.”
    He grinned. “Guess it was worth listening to you, after all.” He pushed his chair back.
    “Sit. I’m not finished with you.” She looked at the others. “One of the problems with the Bixton case has been the level of magical expertise required to make the dagger. If it’s elven work, that solves the problem. Rethna could’ve made it for Friar long before we came on the scene and spoiled his plans. He could have made other things for Friar, too. Things we haven’t run up against yet.”
    Karonski’s eyebrows shot up. “Rethna’s the elf lord you two killed last month.”
    It had been Arjenie’s sister who actually killed him, but Lily nodded.
    “And you like the idea that he might have made all kinds of heavy-duty magical shit for Friar?”
    “I like the idea of knowing what we’re up against. I like the idea that the guy who enspelled that dagger isn’t around to make more. If I’m right, whatever Friar’s planning, his best magical tools and assets are limited to stuff he’s already got. And I was thinking . . . maybe Rethna made a disguise charm for whoever impersonated Ruben. Elves and